Alice Human Sacrifice
by Team Dragon Star
Summary: One-shot for Halloween Contest. What had been a mere story told by one high school student to his friends become something more in a field trip they go to. It wasn't supposed to be true, and now they'll have to pay for the consequences.


**Alice Human Sacrifice**

Disclaimer: TDS does not own Dragon Ball Z or the lyrics to Alice Human Sacrifice by Yugami-P (not a songfic).

* * *

In somewhere, there was once a small dream, and such a small dream it was. It knew that it was going to disappear sooner or later because the creator was gone, so it thought and thought and thought, "How can I make people dream of me?"

The dream finally came up with an idea.

"I could lure them into me, and they can make up the world…"

* * *

It was another normal day at Orange Star High, everything going the way it was supposed to be. No skeletons appearing in closets, no sudden murders, no mysterious monsters appearing suddenly in lockers and devouring students, skin, bones, and all. In short, there was nothing out of ordinary that was happening, even though one might think strange things would occur with so few days to spare before Halloween. At least there should be a few pranks to scare fellow students and teachers alike. But no, the usual small element of chaos was gone.

But of course, that went with a small exception.

Rumors were spreading across the school like wild fire, like usual. Gossip was always among students, but this time, it was diluted with the presence of scary tales, creepypastas, and all of the creepy and unreal (at least, one would hope) stories, many of them made up by the male population to scare the wits out of the girls. Sadly, they got their way and many ran away screaming.

Meanwhile, in a large, half empty classroom, a long-haired blonde boy was perched on top of one of the sturdy long desks that filled up the place. He was animatedly telling three other people about one of those scary tales, using many hand gestures to try to bring the story alive. His victims were a gentle looking blond girl with a pixie hair cut, her emerald eyes wide with horror as she was fully absorbed, another black haired girl, her face clear with disdain at what she thought was a lame attempt to scare them, and a meek looking boy who had an exasperated smile on his face, as if he put up to this behavior daily and managed to put up with it.

"And so ya know, the victims – who they called Alices because of the creepy relationship with Alice in Wonderland – were supposedly," Sharpner lowered his voice into a conspiratorial whisper, "students in our school!" He paused meaningfully with an all-too-serious expression.

Erasa let out a surprised gasp, then covered her mouth. "Oh my god!" she squeaked.

"Please," Videl said in a bored tone, "stop trying to scare us with those pathetic stories."

Gohan stifled a chuckle, whole-heartedly agreeing with her statement. It sounded so unrealistic. Really, dreams that become alive, trick you into them and make you insane? Sounded like a lame thriller movie, even though he could tell that the original author was simply trying to have allusions in the story to Alice in Wonderland. However, to make his friend feel better, he said, "Videl, don't be mean. It was a pretty decent story, pretty fitting for Halloween." Erasa nodded fiercely to his words, a hand clutching the area where her heart laid, as if it was so creepy she nearly had a heart attack.

"Really?!" was the blonde's excited reply, his body perking up. "If nerd boy says so, then it's pretty darn good." He grinned smugly at Videl.

The brunette rolled her eyes and punched Gohan in the shoulders, then pulled back wincing in pain. She better remember to never ever punch him again, because it was like punching a piece of granite. "Please, Sharpner," she said, annoyed, "Gohan only said that to make you feel better."

"Did you really?" Sharpner questioned, peering into the other's eyes.

"Errr… I…" the teen stammered nervously, leaning slightly back. "Well…" Between Videl's death glare and disappointing his other friend, he didn't quite know what to do. Should he admit it was pretty bad, or should he just continue lying? "I uhh…"

Erasa giggled. "Oh you two," she laughed, waving a hand, "quit taking advantage of Gohan's nice nature."  
Said boy shot a grateful smile at the girl as the other two hmph-ed in indignation.

"Anyways," Sharpner continued, clearing his throat, "Want to hear more about it?"

All three of them shouted "NO!" simultaneously, causing the blonde to wilt in disappointment.

But that didn't stop him from continuing. "And this year, we're going to the Alice in Wonderland theme park for a small field trip the school thought up, since it's near and doesn't cost a super huge amount like the Satan Theme Park or something, so we can actually afford having all students go and still enjoy. What if," he said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, "the dream popped up over there and began to kill off more students?"

"Oh no!" Erasa exclaimed. "I don't think I want to go then…"

Videl snorted. "Please, Erasa, he's just trying to scare you. Besides, it's just a stupid story about a dream who didn't want to disappear, so it made five kids insane. That's it. The entire thing is so freakin' unrealistic, too. Where do you find a forest like that? How are dreams even alive?"

"But… but…" Erasa whimpered in a quavering voice whilst pouting, "You never know…"

"Dear me," her best friend groaned, "one stupid tale some Alice in Wonderland obsessed person on crack made up got you like this?"

"Well you know," Gohan said thoughtfully out of the blue, head resting on hands, "this story was actually based on something real that happened a long time ago."

The other three stared at him with wide eyes. "What?!"

He nodded solemnly. "I'm serious. Five gruesome murders dubbed as the Alice killings. You can search on the internet if you don't believe me," he said in a grim tone, running a hand through his spiky hair. "Like Sharpner had said, the first was a woman called Sasaki Megumi, described as a headstrong woman with a temper and sharp tongue. She disappeared one night, and was found dead in an unused path in the forest, again like in the story. Dismembered, a Jack of Spades was found stuffed in her mouth with the word Alice scribbled onto it, which is where I'm assuming the name for the victims came from."

Their mouths gaped open and Gohan regarded them with the same grave eyes. "The next," he continued, "was a man called Yamane Akio, who was a singer, though he only performed at bars and small events. Described by his friends as a gentle person with a soft voice, he was found dead one day, on the table, vocal chords ripped out of his throat and stuffed in his hands, along with the card King of Diamonds."

Even Videl's face was disgusted and horrified. "The third death was of a teenage girl, Kai Sakura. She was a sweet girl, popular among her community. She disappeared, too, one day, and was found two days later in a shallowly dug grave, with a sign of the Queen of Clubs. She was-" he paused for a moment, hesitating, taking in their appalled features, "you know what, I'm not going to go into it. Long story short, she was horribly mutilated and a crown was stitched to her head. Next to her body was a note with random phrases, and some were 'death is a distorted dream', 'she will rule forever', and 'ha! ha! those which die are the unlucky ones'. No one ever found out who had written the note. Judging from the phrase, dream, maybe that's where the beginning part with the small dream came from."

"Lastly," he said, taking a deep breath, "Oshiro Hayato and Hina, twins. Hina was the stubborn older sister, while Hayato was unusually intelligent, as he skipped a grade. The two rarely fought, unlike your ordinary siblings. One night, they were found dead in their beds, and it's assumed that they were killed by a lethal injection. They each clutched an Ace of Hearts in their hands, and when put together spelled out Alice."  
There was a long, dead silence after he finished the speech.

"Holy shit," Sharpner whispered hoarsely, "Gohan, how did you know all that?"

Gohan shrugged. "I once did research on that topic before, and I just remembered all the info. The story you told reminded me of it. I'm guessing that's where it was based off from."

"That's gross and creepy as heck," Videl commented, shivering. Erasa nodded, too freaked out to say anything.

"But anyways," Gohan said, waving his hand nonchalantly, "we shouldn't have any problem with our field trip, since it's totally unrelated to the story other than the fact that it also has to do with Alice in Wonderland."

His friends mumbled in agreement.

Little did they know they might be wrong…

* * *

The First Alice

On the day of the field trip, the four friends found themselves in a group. Actually, make that five. Due to a few issues involved around Gohan, he was to bring Goten along for the trip, and the youngster wouldn't quit jumping up and down from excitement as they arrived at the theme park. Map in hand, Gohan scanned through the notable attractions, ignoring the small argument that was going on with the other three, and the incessant tugging on his shoulder combined with the whining of Goten.

"How about we go to the House of Mirrors?" he suggested, interrupting their fight.

They stared at him.

"I was just suggesting," he said nervously, "and it seems like fun."

"I wanted to go to the Tulgey Woods Maze," Videl complained, crossing her arms.

"And I wanted to go to the Red Queen's castle!" Erasa added, pouting.

Sharpner just shrugged. "I was looking around for a rollercoaster to ride."

Well wasn't this awkward? Gohan paused for a moment, thinking hard. They all wanted to go to different places, and it seemed that no one wanted to go to the other choices. "I think," he began carefully, "that we could all go to what we want. We could separate ways to the places we want to go and meet back an hour or two later, depending on how long you guys think you need."

"An hour and half," Videl and Erasa said simultaneously, their voices sounding happier at his suggestion.

Gohan nodded. "Alright," he said. "Let's be off then and meet back at that time." And with that, he pulled his younger brother closer to him and headed off to the direction of the House of Mirrors, while the two females went off towards opposite directions, and the remaining one stood at his spot, looking over his own copy of the pamphlet to locate the place he wanted to go most.

For some strange reason, the Tulgey Woods Maze had drawn her over, even though she would've preferred riding something that was thrilling, like a roller coaster or large water slide, or even riding the Ferris wheel with Gohan to enjoy the view and make general small talk. She drew near to the entrance and saw thick, tall hedges with an abundance of blood red roses intertwined between the branches. A man in a Cheshire Cat costume with a matching grin greeted challengers and handed out various toy weapons to them, along with a map of the maze in case they got lost.

Videl was handed an elaborate sword, and she refused the map.

"Ohoho!" the man chuckled, "A brave one, I see."

She gave a small smile and walked forward into the dense hedges. The loud sounds of the theme park slowly faded away into silence as she ventured onwards, hearing only the soft voices of other people who had also entered the maze, sounding far away. Her grip on the fake sword tightened as she prepared for something to ambush her. A shadow appeared above her, and she whirled around abruptly to cut down a robotic squirrel. Fake blood dripped out. "You defeated me," it squeaked in a computerized voice, and slunk away into an unseen hole in the greenery.

Right, left, right, right, forward, left.

Videl navigated through the many paths, following solely on her instincts and slashing down any set up creatures that came her way. Gradually, she realized that she was surrounded by total silence, and the hedges were beginning to look older and more unkempt. She noticed a largish hole in one of the rows, which was strange as there shouldn't be any openings unless someone purposely decided to vandalize the maze. Curiosity got the better of her as she bent down and crawled through, ignoring all the branches and rose thorns that scratched her clothes and body. She batted a particularly large twig that was in her way and finally reached the other side.

"What the…" she muttered. It was a large clearing, with a dusty fountain that no longer worked placed in the middle. Did that hole happen to be a shortcut to the center, perhaps? But judging from the growth and age of the place, it seemed as if no one had come here for the longest time. Hesitantly, she stepped towards the middle, a hand outstretched towards the center. A statue of a weeping girl with a sword that looked uncannily like hers was on top of the fountain.

Yet, just as her fingers were a mere inch from it, she heard a loud clanging noise. Looking up ahead, a large black cage was falling fast onto where she stood, too fast for her to comprehend properly and run away. Videl let out a scream as it crashed down and a loud locking noise was heard, before she fell to the ground and knew no more.

Outside in the maze, all that was left beside the small hole was a small puddle of blood. The question is, where did the blood come from?

…

The first Alice bravely entered Wonderland, sword in hand.  
Cutting down countless creatures, she left a bright red path in her wake.  
That Alice is in the forest,  
Locked away like a criminal.  
Aside from the path she made in the forest, there is no sign that she existed.

* * *

The Second Alice

Sharpner finally settled on just wandering for the hour and a half, as there was nothing that particularly attracted him. He'll just see if there was anything that would be interesting to him as he toured around the park by himself. Then, an idea struck him. He could follow Videl into the maze, and then wind up crashing into her, becoming her savior as she got lost. He nodded vigorously to himself, happy at the image that he conjured. The blonde did an about face and went on the path that lead back to the Tulgey Woods.  
He hummed quietly to himself as he reached the entrance, and a man who was dressed up as a Cheshire cat greeted him enthusiastically, handing him a map and a BB gun.

"Oh by the way," Sharpner asked nonchalantly, "did a girl with two pigtails happen to come in here awhile ago?"

"Yeah, I believe so. She refused to take the map when she went in," the man replied, chuckling.  
Sharpner felt elated at that piece of news. That meant that Videl really could get lost, and he'll become her Knight in Shining Armor! The blonde grinned to himself cheerfully and waltzed in, whistling one of the show tunes he picked up from watching the TV yesterday. He pulled out a spare pen that sat in his pocket and drew out the route he'd take to reach the end, making it a little more complicated than required so that the chances of him finding the black haired beauty would increase.

Several animals flew out of apparently nowhere, and he shot them down with the BB gun. As the K.O. count increased, Sharpner became more confident in himself. "Heck yeah! I kicked their asses pretty hard," he said to himself, grinning ear to ear, then burst into hysterical laughter. The more he took down, the giddier he felt, and the higher his level of confidence rose. The mechanical voices of "you defeated me" replayed over and over in his mind as he bathed in self-induced glory.

"Videl dear~! Your prince is coming!" he sang out loud, snickering to himself and continued to sing another song. As he passed another one of the forked roads, a faint, alluring scent caught his nose. He stopped in his tracks and turned around, sniffing the air in search for that smell. His eyes swept around the hedges, looking for the source, and they fell on a beautiful rose that stood out among the other half-grown ones.

It was ruby red, its petals fanning outwards with no signs of wilting. Nearing the rose, the sweet scent increased, drawing him in. His hands felt the soft, smooth petals of the flower, marveling the feeling. Sharpner took a long, deep, sniff, sticking his nose into the rose, as his fingers curled around the stem and in one fluid movement, jerked it off. He cupped it delicately in his palms, drinking in the intoxicating fragrance.

A strange click jerked him out of his trance, and he looked up, startled.

A man was standing in front of him with tattered, worn clothes, no shoes, and a dirty fedora. His eyes were blank and glazed over, and a lopsided, psychotic smile graced his features. The most disturbing detail out of all was the sleek black gun he pointed in the middle of Sharpner's eyes. The sound was of the madman cocking the gun.

The sound of a loud gunshot rang out, disturbing the previous peace of the maze. A blackbird flew from its resting place, cawing in alarm.

…

The second Alice meekly sang a song in Wonderland.  
Spreading out countless notes, he gave birth to a mad world.  
That Alice was a rose,  
Shot down by a madman.  
He makes one bright red flower bloom, and admired by all he withers.

* * *

The Third Alice

Erasa skipped cheerfully to the center of the Alice in Wonderland theme park, where there was a large towering castle that was an exhibit of Crim, the Red Queen's Castle, located on top of a small hill. She was, admittedly, a bit downcast that her friends didn't want to see it. The blonde thought that it would be amazing, with all the medieval style things that she'd see, and the beauty of the building itself. She just didn't see how an old maze and a House of Mirrors were even remotely interesting. Oh well, their lost. To each her own.

With a big grin on her face, she climbed up the steps to the castle and strolled through the front door, admiring all the details they had included in this mock-castle, and how realistic and grand the entrance was, with its fancy gilded double doors and large brass doorknobs. Two doormen bowed lowly to her and all the other visitors that were filing in and couldn't help but feel queen-like.

This. Was. Totally. Amazing!

As she sped through the castle, Erasa accidentally brushed past a group of young men admiring the castle, just like her. She quickly uttered an apology, and one of the teens turned around. "It's alright," he said sweetly, "especially when it's a lady as lovely as you are." There was a small smile on his handsome face, and the blonde couldn't help but blush deeply. Stuttering a thank you, she hurried on forwards to the place she wanted to see the most, the throne room.

And when she got there at last, she gasped out loud at the sight. A large throne with a gold outline and plush velvet cushions was at the end of the long hall, a row of suited armors on each side, like knights in waiting. And the last and most important detail: it was completely empty.

With a delighted squeal, she rushed down the hall and plopped onto the throne, leaning back and looking down onto the hall. "I feel like a queen," she whispered in wonder to herself, and giggled girlishly to herself. "Oh, what am I thinking?"

But she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, beginning to envision how the place would look if it was occupied, and she was the queen of the world. In her mind, the suits of armor became alive. They were no longer statues, but real knights that looked up to her with admiring eyes, falling under the spell of her breathtaking beauty. The servants stood at either side and waited, following her every command. The hall was alive with activity, her advisors filling the court while discussing politics and economy, while rich nobles who were invited kept cooing about the splendor of the castle.

Many dashing young men knelt before her and poured out their hearts, proposing to her with dozens of roses and a large diamond ring.

Everything was perfect.

But suddenly, she heard hushed words, hidden among the conversations.

"Insane queen."

"Good for nothing girl."

"Let's kill her."

The whisperings filled her mind, banishing her previous pride of having such a perfect court and was replaced by heavy paranoia. These very people she handpicked were plotting against her, and these men who were wooing to her wanted to get close and assassinate her. Everyone was against her.

And that paranoia grew, and all she could hear were the evil whisperings and the hushed conversation. She paid more heed, and heard a plot involving a rebellion and giving her a public execution. Erasa hissed in anger and clenched her fists. These good for nothing people! After all the kindness she showed to them, they repaid in such way. She was the queen!

The blonde began screeching out orders, pointing at the nobles and advisors, ordering them to be executed on the spot. She watched with satisfaction as they were slaughtered, one by one, their crimson blood staining the perfect, pale marble floor. But the killings only increased the hate of the others, and soon she had them all killed.

Insanity consumed her.

Erasa screamed, collapsed, and lost all consciousness.

She was slumped on the ground, and as frightened visitors rushed to her aide, they found her lying on the ground, pale and cold as if she was dead. Was she really?

…

The third Alice was a young girl, a beautiful figure in Wonderland.  
Deceiving countless people, she created a strange country.  
That Alice was the country's queen,  
Possessed by a warped dream.  
Fearing her decaying body, she ruled from the summit of the country.

* * *

The Fourth Alices

The two brothers, in another place, walked merrily among a small path through a quiet park, heading towards the Cheshire cat's House of Mirrors. It was far from their starting point, and was also isolated from most of the other attractions because of its unique location placed by a mini forest.

"This is fun, big brother!" Goten chirped as they strolled through the park, enjoying the tranquility of the area, in heavy contrast with the loudness of the theme park from the machines, buzzing conversation, and shrieks of joy. Gohan led his younger brother to a bench surrounded rose bushes and sat down. "Thought you might be a little hungry," he said with a smile and pulled out a large sack from the backpack he had carried. Opening it up, he pulled out several onigiris and handed half to Goten. They promptly scarfed down the rice balls like there was no tomorrow and each guzzled down a bottle of water.

"It's so nice here," the younger commented, stretching. "But I really wanna see that mirror house thingy." He leapt up from the bench.

Gohan laughed at the younger's impatience. "Alright, alright."

They continued down the road, gleefully pointing out squirrels, birds, and other small critters that crossed their paths. As they finally reached the end, there stood a funnily built house with the Cheshire cat's face staring out them with its classic grin, and a large neon sign of "Cheshire Cat House of Mirrors". Goten immediately dropped his brother's hand and sprinted to the doorway; he couldn't wait to get in! Oh, the fun things the house will have. With a grin, he turned back and beckoned Gohan forward. "C'mon!" he shouted eagerly.

The teen hurried forward and together they walked in as the doorman greeted them friendly. "Have fun in there," he said good-naturedly.

The first few mirrors had Goten giggling as he made funny faces in the mirror and watched as they were distorted. "Lookie! You have fish eyes, big brother!" he laughed.

Gohan shook his head, sighing. "And you have a humongous forehead," he retaliated, sticking his tongue out childishly.

Suddenly, Goten pointed to a cartoon grin painted on the walls. "Hey look, I think the Cheshire cat is staring at us," he whispered, eyes wide.

His older brother raised an eyebrow. Now that the younger had pointed out, there were an awful lot of those faces painted over the mirrors, and there were one painted right smack in the middle of the curved one they were currently facing. He bent down slightly so that the grin was placed directly over his mouth.

"You look ugly like that!" Goten said and blew a loud raspberry.

Gohan turned to his brother. "What did you say?" he said in a mock-threatening tone.

Goten just stuck out his tongue and ran away.

The chase begun.

They never had so much fun before, even by just doing such a simple and childish activity of chasing and playing around with mirrors. It had been a while since Gohan really spent any quality time with his brother as he was always caught in his studies. The duo passed through many doors and rooms, sometimes stopping to explore the rooms properly and play around with the strange mirrors. Oddly, there were never any people, but they were just content with the strange tidbit.

Hours passed.

They never came out.

Following the small path through the forest, having tea beneath the rosebush.  
The invitation card from the palace was the Ace of Hearts.  
The fourth Alice was twin children, entering Wonderland out of curiosity.  
Passing through countless doors, they had only just recently come.  
A stubborn sister and an intelligent brother.  
They came the closest to being the true Alice, but...  
They won't wake from their dream. They're lost in Wonderland.

* * *

**Important: This story is a part of the Halloween one shot contest which is currently being held among TDS' own members. Please leave a review**


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